Canada's national public broadcaster will cut 800 full-time jobs across the country in a bid to balance its budget, AP quoted the president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as telling employees today. Hubert Lacroix said the broadcaster is facing a budget shortfall of 171 million Canadian dollars ($139 million) this fiscal year. He also said the job cuts will help further balance the budget while trying to keep local stations open. The plan is to cut about 400 jobs at the CBC, about 330 at Radio-Canada and another 70 corporate positions, reducing its 9857 employee base by roughly eight percent, said CBC spokesman Angus McKinnon.
